Census Takers Needed For Counties

Three weeks away from the first major field operation for the 1990 decennial census, there remains a shortfall of recruitment in census takers from Isle of Wight, Sussex and Surry Counties.

A census operation termed "Update/Leave" begins the end of February during which a crew in each rural county will be updating address lists in a fashion suitable to the U.S. Bureau of the Census's purposes (rural route box numbers are inadequate in pinpointing location). By the middle of March, after these rural addresses are compiled, census workers will begin dropping off the census questionnaires, asking all residents to mail them back by April 1st. It is anticipated that workers will be needed to follow up on those who fail to mail back their questionnaires.

In this area, census recruitment is only about 40 percent of the applicant pool needed to ensure that these operations can be properly manned. If local residents cannot be found to fill these jobs, the bureau will be compelled to bring in personnel from outside areas. It is the Census Bureau's preference to have local people do these jobs since they would be better at locating addresses in their neighborhoods.

To help ease the hiring burden, Congress passed legislation last fall allowing military and civilian federal retirees to take a temporary census job without any diminishment of their retirement benefits.

Census enumerators will be able to set their own work schedule though they should be able to work at least 30 hours a week. Wages begin at $6 per hour and travel will be compensated at 24 cents a mile.

Applicants will need to pass a short written test and must be U.S. citizens.

Persons in Isle of Wight, Surry and Sussex Counties interested in Census employment should contact the district office in Portsmouth at 485-7311.